Caring for a patient with terminal cancer poses difficulties for family caregivers. Although families of patients with cancer have been classified by type, little is known about the relation between family functioning...Caring for a patient with terminal cancer poses difficulties for family caregivers. Although families of patients with cancer have been classified by type, little is known about the relation between family functioning and quality of life (QOL) in family caregivers. This study aimed to develop a typology of family functioning in family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer and then examine the relation between the family functioning and QOL of family caregivers. From December 2013 to August 2014, fifty-one family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer were recruited at three hospitals in Tokyo, Japan. Perceptions of family functioning were assessed with the Family Relationship Index, and its three subscores were classified into three groups by cluster analysis. Caregivers’ QOL was measured with the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer. The average total FRI score among 51 caregivers was 8.5 (SD = 2.8). Family functioning was categorized into three clusters: supportive (n = 12), communicative (n = 30), or conflictive (n = 8). Their QOL was categorized into two groups: the communicative group, with relatively high confliction, showed high QOL comparable to the supportive group. Family functioning in the families of patients with terminal cancer hospitalized in general wards was not good. For improving the QOL of family caregivers, it may be important for the family members to express their feelings and distress if they have conflicts.展开更多
Satisfaction with care is an important indicator for family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer and is linked to the quality of life. Despite this, few studies have examined the aspects of satisfaction with ca...Satisfaction with care is an important indicator for family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer and is linked to the quality of life. Despite this, few studies have examined the aspects of satisfaction with care of family caregivers of inpatients with cancer in general wards. This qualitative study aimed to elucidate the elements of satisfaction with the care that inpatients with terminal cancer in general wards and their family caregivers receive from medical staff, as perceived by the family caregivers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 family caregivers of inpatients with terminal cancer. Participants were asked about the care received until then from medical staff, the features of satisfactory care, and the aspects of care they felt were unsatisfactory or could become satisfactory with improvement. The data were analyzed with the content analysis method and the six categories were extracted. For family caregivers of inpatients with terminal cancer in general wards, along with the care identified as important in palliative care, the methods of alleviating symptoms and explaining the patient’s condition were also important. The results highlight the importance of determining a patient-oriented approach and explanations together with each patient and family caregiver, based on an understanding of the long treatment process.展开更多
<strong>Purpose:</strong> This study aims to verify the validity of the contents of the Nurse Administered Depression Scale for Elderly Inpatients16 (NDE16) using the Delphi approach in order to further im...<strong>Purpose:</strong> This study aims to verify the validity of the contents of the Nurse Administered Depression Scale for Elderly Inpatients16 (NDE16) using the Delphi approach in order to further improve the accuracy of the NDE16, a scale for rating potential depressive states in elderly inpatients through the observations reported by nurses.<strong> Methods:</strong> Participants were nurses working in general wards for longer than 3 years and who expressed consent to the study participation. Data were collected using the Delphi method (3 times). Responses are scored from 1 to 5 (3 - 5 points as positive) using the Likert method. The standard criteria for inclusion in the further evaluation are “mean ≥ 3.0”, “standard deviation < 1.0”, “median ≥ 3.0”, and “IQR ≤ 1.0”. Items that meet all the criteria at the third survey are employed as question items in the final questionnaire. <strong>Results: </strong>The respondents were 139 females, 10 males, and 1 unknown, aged 25 to 65. The collection rates of the three surveys were 75% to 82%. Based on the results of the first survey, wordings of 9 questions were modified. Since Question 13 “Queries are not really responded to.” did not meet the criteria (IQR = 2) at the third survey, we excluded this question and named the revised scale NDE15. <strong>Discussion: </strong>The reason why Question 13 did not meet the criteria could be due to the difficulty in distinguishing “Expressing thought suppression” from the state of cognitive decline in dementia. Further studies are needed to determine cutoff points.展开更多
文摘Caring for a patient with terminal cancer poses difficulties for family caregivers. Although families of patients with cancer have been classified by type, little is known about the relation between family functioning and quality of life (QOL) in family caregivers. This study aimed to develop a typology of family functioning in family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer and then examine the relation between the family functioning and QOL of family caregivers. From December 2013 to August 2014, fifty-one family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer were recruited at three hospitals in Tokyo, Japan. Perceptions of family functioning were assessed with the Family Relationship Index, and its three subscores were classified into three groups by cluster analysis. Caregivers’ QOL was measured with the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer. The average total FRI score among 51 caregivers was 8.5 (SD = 2.8). Family functioning was categorized into three clusters: supportive (n = 12), communicative (n = 30), or conflictive (n = 8). Their QOL was categorized into two groups: the communicative group, with relatively high confliction, showed high QOL comparable to the supportive group. Family functioning in the families of patients with terminal cancer hospitalized in general wards was not good. For improving the QOL of family caregivers, it may be important for the family members to express their feelings and distress if they have conflicts.
文摘Satisfaction with care is an important indicator for family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer and is linked to the quality of life. Despite this, few studies have examined the aspects of satisfaction with care of family caregivers of inpatients with cancer in general wards. This qualitative study aimed to elucidate the elements of satisfaction with the care that inpatients with terminal cancer in general wards and their family caregivers receive from medical staff, as perceived by the family caregivers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 family caregivers of inpatients with terminal cancer. Participants were asked about the care received until then from medical staff, the features of satisfactory care, and the aspects of care they felt were unsatisfactory or could become satisfactory with improvement. The data were analyzed with the content analysis method and the six categories were extracted. For family caregivers of inpatients with terminal cancer in general wards, along with the care identified as important in palliative care, the methods of alleviating symptoms and explaining the patient’s condition were also important. The results highlight the importance of determining a patient-oriented approach and explanations together with each patient and family caregiver, based on an understanding of the long treatment process.
文摘<strong>Purpose:</strong> This study aims to verify the validity of the contents of the Nurse Administered Depression Scale for Elderly Inpatients16 (NDE16) using the Delphi approach in order to further improve the accuracy of the NDE16, a scale for rating potential depressive states in elderly inpatients through the observations reported by nurses.<strong> Methods:</strong> Participants were nurses working in general wards for longer than 3 years and who expressed consent to the study participation. Data were collected using the Delphi method (3 times). Responses are scored from 1 to 5 (3 - 5 points as positive) using the Likert method. The standard criteria for inclusion in the further evaluation are “mean ≥ 3.0”, “standard deviation < 1.0”, “median ≥ 3.0”, and “IQR ≤ 1.0”. Items that meet all the criteria at the third survey are employed as question items in the final questionnaire. <strong>Results: </strong>The respondents were 139 females, 10 males, and 1 unknown, aged 25 to 65. The collection rates of the three surveys were 75% to 82%. Based on the results of the first survey, wordings of 9 questions were modified. Since Question 13 “Queries are not really responded to.” did not meet the criteria (IQR = 2) at the third survey, we excluded this question and named the revised scale NDE15. <strong>Discussion: </strong>The reason why Question 13 did not meet the criteria could be due to the difficulty in distinguishing “Expressing thought suppression” from the state of cognitive decline in dementia. Further studies are needed to determine cutoff points.
